Athanor trial: up to 30 years imprisonment for the masterminds of the criminal organization

The specially constituted assize court in Paris delivered its verdict this Friday in the Athanor case, a vast criminal organization originating within a Masonic lodge in the Hauts-de-Seine department. Seventeen of the twenty-two defendants were sentenced to terms ranging from six months' suspended imprisonment to 30 years' imprisonment, while five were acquitted.

The main perpetrators received heavy sentences.

The harshest sentences were handed down to the three central figures of the network. Daniel Beaulieu, a former high-ranking official in domestic intelligence, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Frédéric Vaglio, considered the recruiter and negotiator of the criminal contracts, received a 25-year sentence. Their main enforcer, Sébastien Leroy, was sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Over the course of a three-month trial, judges examined the activities of this organization, which was involved in intimidation contracts, assaults, and a murder, including that of race car driver Laurent Pasquali. Dylan Bilheude, presented by the prosecution as the alleged shooter, was ultimately acquitted due to lack of evidence, as were four other defendants.

This verdict brings to a close, at the first instance, one of the most complex criminal cases of recent years. The convicted parties now have ten days to appeal.

Note: The Athanor case originated in a Masonic lodge in the Hauts-de-Seine department, where a structured criminal organization gradually formed between 2016 and 2020. According to the prosecution, this cell recruited former members of the intelligence services and security professionals to carry out intimidation contracts, beatings, and contract killings. It was dismantled in July 2020, following the arrest of two DGSE agents on a surveillance mission near the home of a suspected target.